Assembly of a windshield glass and a weather strip having a partly modified cross section and method of manufacturing same

ABSTRACT

In the assembly of a windshield glass and a weather strip having a partly modified cross section the weather strip is extruded along the peripheral edge of the windshield glass and fixedly adhered thereto, a movable die 132 of a die assembly is properly moved so as to change the shape of an orifice of the die assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to extrusion molding of a weather striponto the peripheral edge of a windshield glass, and specifically toextrusion molding of such a weather strip having a partly modified crosssection.

2. Description of the Prior Art

As shown in FIG. 1, weather strip 4 is provided around a windshieldglass 3 of an automobile. Noting FIGS. 20(A) through 20(D), the weatherstrip 4 should include an upper portion 4A and a pair of side portions4C, the portions 4A and 4C having different cross sections from eachother. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 20(C), the side portion 4C isrequired to have a groove 8 extending along a side edge of thewindshield glass 3, while the upper portion 4A is not required to havesuch a groove 8, as shown in FIG. 20(B).

A technique of extruding such a weather strip 4 having a partly modifiedcross section is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.3-128721. According to this technique, as shown in FIGS. 22(A1) through22(D2), extrusion molding is carried out by using a fixed die having anorifice 210 and a movable die having an orifice 220, the movable diebeing movable in relation to the fixed die. Thus, the orifices 210 and220 overlap each other to form a portion (i.e. geometrical Booleanproduct) which defines a practical orifice, and a weather strip having across section conforming to the practical orifice in shape is extruded.For example, the orifice 210 and 220 are disposed in such a positionalrelationship as shown in FIG. 22(B1) to extrude a weather strip portioncorresponding to the upper portion 4A which has no groove 8 adjacent tothe windshield glass 3. On the contrary, the orifice 210 and 220 aredisposed in such a positional relationship as shown in FIG. 22(C1) toextrude a weather strip portion corresponding to the side portion 4Cwhich has the groove 8 adjacent to the windshield glass 3. This resultsin extrusion molding of the weather strip as shown in FIG. 20(D).

Though this technique is quite effective to integrally extrude such aweather strip 4 having a partly modified cross section, the weatherstrip 4 is molded separately from the windshield glass 3, so that theweather strip 4 thus molded must be fitted on the peripheral edge of thewindshield glass 3. Disadvantageously, there will occur a problem thatthe weather strip 4 is apt to be twisted during the fitting process.Furthermore, the weather strip 4 may move along the peripheral edge ofthe windshield glass 3, that is, the upper portion 4A or the sideportion 4C of the weather strip 4 may be positioned on the corner edgeof the windshield glass 3, though these portions 4A, 4C should beprecisely positioned on the upper edge and the side edge of thewindshield glass 3, respectively.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,265 teaches a technique to form a windshieldglass/weather strip assembly. According to the technique, as shown inFIG. 21, extrusion molding is carried out by moving a die 331 having anorifice 331a along the peripheral edge of the windshield glass 3. Thisassures the weather strip 4 to be extruded along the peripheral edge ofthe windshield glass 3, thereby to form a windshield glass/weather stripassembly. Thus, the technique can provide the weather strip directlymolded on the peripheral edge of the windshield glass 3, eliminating theprocess of fitting the weather strip on the peripheral edge of thewindshield glass 3. It should be noted that the weather strip molded inaccordance with the above U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,265 has a uniform crosssection. Also, weather strip 4 is formed of urethane having lessweather-proof property and i s mounted on only the inboard side.Further, the die 331 is moved along the peripheral edge of thewindshield glass 3 while contacting therewith. Therefore, if there is avariation in the size of the windshield glass 3, the variation isdirectly reflected in the external size of the windshield glass/weatherstrip assembly.

Combination of the technique shown in FIGS. 22(A1) through 22(D2), i.e.molding by moving the movable die in relation to the fixed die so as tochange the shape of the practical orifice and the technique shown inFIG. 21, i.e. extrusion molding by the die traveling along theperipheral edge of the windshield glass might be expected to provide aweather strip having a partly modified cross section and molded on theperipheral edge of the windshield glass. However, the combination of thetechnique shown in FIGS. 21(A1) through 22(D2) can form only the weatherstrip having limited cross section.

As shown in FIGS. 22(B2) and 22(C2), the weather strip 4 has on theoutboard side thereof a projection 6a extending toward the center of thewindshield glass 3, the projection 6a being disposed in contact with thewindshield glass 3 at some parts of the weather strip 4 and aparttherefrom at other parts. As shown FIG. 22(A1), the fixed die should beformed with an orifice 210 having the same width as the projection 6aand extending vertically as seen in the drawing. The movable die havingan orifice 220 is vertically movable in the orifice 210 so as to changethe level where the projection 6a is formed. If the weather strip 4 ismolded separately from the windshield glass 3, there would be no problemof interference between the movable die and the windshield glass 3,permitting execution of the extrusion process as shown in FIGS. 22(A1)through 22(D2). If it is, however, desired to carry out extrusionmolding along the peripheral edge of the windshield glass 3, there aninterference between the windshield glass 3 and the movable die, whichwould inhibit execution of the process in FIGS. 22(A1) through 22(D2).If the movable die is so designed as to avoid such interference with thewindshield glass 3, it is possible to mold a weather strip having across section which is partly different in thickness H (FIG. 22(D2)) butnot possible to form a groove 8. In order to form the groove 8, it isrequired to provide the movable die with a wall for defining the groove8 and this wall would inevitably interfere with the windshield glass.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problem byextrusion molding of a weather strip with a groove formed in some partsthereof on the peripheral edge of a windshield glass without anyinterference between a movable die and the windshield glass.

It i s another object of the present invention to provide, by the aboveextrusion molding process, a windshield glass assembly in which aweather strip having a groove formed in some parts thereof is directlymolded onto the peripheral edge of the windshield glass.

The above objects are achieved by a method of extruding a weather striphaving a partly modified cross section along the peripheral edge of awindshield glass, the method having steps of inserting the peripheraledge of the windshield glass into an orifice of a fixed die having aslot through which the peripheral edge of windshield glass is inserted,and moving, during the extrusion process, a movable die in relation tothe fixed die, the movable die having an orifice wider than a portion ofthe orifice of the fixed die adjacent to the windshield glass, themovable die having a supplementary passage communicating with the widerportion thereof, and at the same time, moving the peripheral edge of thewindshield glass in relation to the fixed die.

According to the present invention, there is provided an assembly of awindshield glass and a weather strip having a partly modified crosssection, the weather strip being extruded onto the peripheral edge ofthe windshield glass, characterized in that the weather strip has on theoutboard side thereof a projection extending toward the center of thewindshield glass, the projection being in contact with the windshieldglass at the upper portion of the windshield glass and being apart fromthe windshield glass at the side portion of the windshield glass todefine a groove therebetween.

FIG. 23(A1) shows an example of an orifice 251a of the fixed die havinga slot 251b through which the windshield glass 3 is inserted. FIG.23(A2) shows an example of an orifice of the movable die. The orifice ofthe movable die is composed of a portion 252b having the same width asthe orifice 251a and a wider portion 252a extending laterally therefrom.A supplementary passage not shown is communicated with the wider portion252a within the movable die.

When the fixed die and the movable die are disposed in such a positionalrelationship as shown in FIG. 23(B1), the resulting extruded memberintegrally includes a portion formed through both orifices 251a and 252band a portion formed through the supplementary passage and then throughthe wider orifice portion 252a. The weather strip thus molded has across section as shown in FIG. 23(B2). When the fixed die and themovable die are disposed in such a positional relationship as shown inFIG. 23(C1), the resulting extruded member integrally includes a portionformed through the orifice 251a, a portion formed through both orifices251a and 252b, and a portion formed through the supplementary passageand then through the wider orifice portion 252a. The weather strip thusmolded has a cross section as shown in FIG. 23(C2). In this case, agroove 8 is defined.

Thus, this method assures extrusion molding of a weather strip along theperipheral edge of the windshield glass, having a groove formed in someparts of the weather strip without any interference between the movabledie and the windshield glass, and thus an assembly of a windshield glassand a weather strip having a partly modified cross section ismanufactured in accordance with the present invention.

When a modified fixed die having an orifice 261a and a movable diehaving orifices 262a and 262b as shown in FIGS. 24(1) through 24(D) areused, the assembly of a windshield glass and a weather strip having apartly modified cross section is formed with a lip 6c in tight contactwith the surface of the windshield glass 3, the lip 6c being relativelythin at the upper portion of the windshield as shown in FIG. 24(B2) andbeing relatively thick at the side portion thereof as shown in FIG.24(C2). The relatively thick portion of the lip 6c is formed with agroove 8 extending toward the center of the windshield glass 3.

The windshield glass assembly thus obtained has the weather stripattached thereto, with no necessity to attach the weather strip aroundthe windshield glass. Furthermore, the weather strip with the grooveformed in some parts thereof can satisfactorily fulfill the intendedfunction on the weather strip.

The present invention will be more fully understood from the followingdetailed description and appended claims when taken with the accompanieddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a whole automobile having a windshieldglass/weather strip assembly attached thereto;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the vicinity of a corner thewindshield glass/weather strip assembly in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross section of an upper portion of the weather strip inFIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross section of a side portion of the weather strip inFIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a whole manufacturing machine; FIG. 6 isa perspective view of a die assembly;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the die assembly in FIG. 6 wherein diesare relatively moved;

FIG. 8 is a front view of a fixed die;

FIG. 9 is a front view of a movable die;

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a positional relationship between thefixed die and the movable die;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line XI--XI in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line XII--XII in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along line XIII--XIII in FIG. 10;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along line XIV--XIV in FIG. 10;

FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 10 but illustrating another positionalrelationship;

FIG. 16 is a sectional view taken along line XVI--XVI in FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is an operational view illustrating the condition in which theweather strip is extruded onto the lower edge of the periphery of thewindshield glass;

FIG. 18 is another operational view illustrating the condition in whichthe weather strip is extruded onto a first corner of the periphery ofthe windshield glass;

FIG. 19 is a further operational view illustrating the condition inwhich the weather strip is extruded onto the right side edge of theperiphery of the windshield glass;

FIGS. 20(A), 20(B), 20(C) and 20(D) are views illustrating a prior art;

FIG. 21 is a view illustrating another prior art;

FIGS. 22(A1), 22(A2), 22(B2), 22(C1), 22(C2) and 22(D2) are schematicviews illustrating the prior art and a problem incorporated therein;

FIGS. 23(A1), 23(A2), 23(A3), 23(B1), 23(B2), 23(C1), 23(C2) and 23(D)are schematic views illustrating an embodiment of the present invention;and

FIGS. 24(A1), 24(A2), 24(A3), 24(B1), 24(B2), 24(C1), 24(C2) and 24(D)are schematic views illustrating another embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 4, an embodiment of a windshieldglass/weather strip assembly formed in accordance with the presentinvention will be described. The following description will be relatedto a front windshield glass/weather strip assembly for an automobile asshown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1 which is a perspective view of an automobile, awindshield glass/weather strip assembly 2 to be fitted in a windowopening of a body panel 1 is composed of a windshield glass 3 which isformed in a curved contour in view of esthetic and aerodynamiccharacteristics and a weather strip 4 fixedly adhered to the peripheraledge of the windshield glass 3. The windshield glass 3 has an endsurface and front and rear surfaces of the peripheral edge treated byprimer, and a resin adhesive is applied on the primer-treated portions,as will be mentioned later.

The weather strip 4is integrally adhered to the portion of theperipheral edge of the windshield glass 3 on which the adhesive isapplied. The weather strip 4 is made of a synthetic resin, rubber or thelike, and extruded continuously along and onto the peripheral edge ofthe windshield glass 3 and, at the same time, it is adhered thereto bythe adhesive. Preferably, the weather strip 4 may be made of polyvinylchloride (PVC) elastomer containing a plasticizer. The weather strip 4is in the form of a frame along the peripheral edge of the windshieldglass 3, the cross section taken in a plane vertical to the longitudinaldirection being changed in the longitudinal direction. Specifically, theweather strip 4 comprises an upper portion 4A fitted in a space betweenthe upper edge of the windshield glass 3 and a roof panel, a pair ofside portions 4C each fitted in a space between either side edge of thewindshield glass 3 and a pillar panel, and a pair of corner portions 4Beach connecting the upper portion 4A and either of the side portions 4Cin a curved manner.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the weather strip 4 has a leg portion 5inserted into the space between the peripheral edge of the windshieldglass 3 and the body panel 1, and a trimming portion 6 extending fromthe outboard end (upper end in the drawing) of the leg portion 5 andadapted for covering the connection between the windshield glass 3 andthe body panel 1 from outside of the body. The trimming portion 6 andthe leg portion 5 define a member having a substantially T-shaped crosssection taken vertically to the longitudinal direction. The leg portion5 has at its inboard end (lower end in the drawing) a support piece 7extending along the full length thereof and adapted for supporting thelower surface of the windshield glass 3. A glass receiving groove of auniformly U-shaped configuration in cross section is defined between thesupport piece 7 and the trimming portion 6 so as to receive thewindshield glass 3.

The trimming portion 6 comprises a glass-side projection 6a and a panelside projection 6b which extend along the windshield glass 3 and thebody panel 1, respectively. The projections 6a and 6b are so designed asto have a uniform thickness and a uniform shape along the full length ofthe molding.

The leg portion 5 has a height, i.e. a length between the outboard endand the inboard end, changing in correspondence with steps of the bodypanel 1. In the upper portion 4A, it is set to a relatively smallheight, and it becomes gradually longer from the midpoints of the cornerportions 4B toward the side portions 4C. It is set to a relatively largeconstant height in the range from the upper end of each side portion 4Cadjacent to the corresponding corner to the lower portion. In the sideportions 4C having an enlarged height of the leg portion 5, the outboardportion of the leg portion 5 outside of the windshield glass 3 isenlarged outwardly to form a thicker extension. The thicker extensionhas an inner peripheral wall surface which cooperates with the glassside projection 6a of the trimming portion 6 and the outboard surface ofthe windshield glass 3 to define a concaved rainwater drainage groove 8opening toward the center of the windshield glass 3. The rainwaterdrainage groove 8 has a depth kept constant in the longitudinaldirection and a width changed in proportion to the extensive height ofthe thicker extension of the leg portion.

In the windshield glass/weather strip assembly 2 formed described above,the weather strip 4 is continuous along the peripheral edge of thewindshield glass 3, assuring an esthetic appearance. The weather strip 4extruded onto the peripheral edge of the windshield glass 3 is, at thesame time, adhered to the peripheral edge of the glass 3 by an adhesiveto form the unitary assembly. This is effective to eliminate thetroublesome process of fitting a weather strip molded separately fromthe windshield glass 3 into the peripheral edge of the windshield glass3 to make an assembly. This is also effective to prevent occurrence of"wrinkle" or "lifting" of the weather strip 4 in the corner and itsvicinity of the windshield glass 3, assuring improved appearance.

Now, the description will be related to a manufacturing machine of thewindshield glass/weather strip assembly 2 having the above constructionwith reference to FIGS. 5 to 10.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the whole manufacturing machine, whichis mainly composed of a die assembly 11 to be assembled to the front endof an extruder 10, a glass holding device 60 disposed laterally of thedie assembly 11, a glass introducing device 64 for the glass holdingdevice 60, a glass ejection device 95, a glass supply shelf device 96for the glass introducing device 64 and a glass delivery shelf device103 for the glass ejection device 95.

In FIGS. 6 and 7 showing the die assembly 11 of the extruder 10, a diedevice 13 is attached to the distal end of the extruder through a jointpipe 12 for supplying a molding resin material P. The die device 13 isprovided with a fixed die 131 disposed fixedly and a movable die 132disposed at the end of the fixed die 131 where the extruded weatherstrip is outputted.

The movable die 132 is vertically movably supported in a guide groove133 provided in the fixed die 131 and is connected to a vertical driveunit not shown though a connecting rod 134 attached to the upper end ofthe movable die 132.

As shown in FIG. 8, the fixed die 131 is formed with an orifice 131a,and a slot 131b communicates with the orifice 131a. The slot 131b isprovided to receive the peripheral edge of the windshield glass 3, andwith the windshield glass 3 inserted in the slot 131b, there is left aclearance in the order of 0.1 mm on each of the front and rear surfacesof the windshield glass 3. The clearance allows relative movementbetween the peripheral edge of the windshield glass 3 and the fixed die131. Because of the viscosity or the like of the extrusion resinmaterial P, the clearance in the order of 0.1 mm will cause no flowingout of the molding resin material P through the clearance. There isprovided within the fixed die 131 an opening 131c communicating with thejoint pipe 12, so that the molding resin material P can be extrudedthrough the orifice 131a and the opening 131c.

The movable die 132 is of a configuration as shown in FIG. 9 and has anorifice 132b having the same width as the orifice 131a of the fixed die131 and a wider portion 132a extending therefrom to the left in thedrawing. The movable die 132 has on the rear surface and in the interiorthereof a supplementary passage 132c which allows communication betweenthe opening 131c of the fixed die 131 and the wider portion 132a. Themovable die 132 is also formed with a relief orifice 132d.

With the movable die 132 in its uppermost position as shown in FIG. 7,the positional relationship between the movable die 132 and the fixeddie 131 is shown in FIGS. 10 to 14. As shown in FIG. 10, the orifice131a of the fixed die 131 is used to form the support piece 7. Theorifice 131a of the fixed die 131 and a wall 132e (See FIG. 9)cooperates to form the leg portion 5. Further, the orifice 132b of themovable die 132 is used to form the panel-side projection 6b. Themolding resin material flowing from the opening 131c of the fixed die131 through the supplementary passage 132c into the wider portion 132aforms the glass-side projection 6a. At this time, a groove 8 is definedby a wall 131d (See FIG. 8) of the fixed die 131. Flow of the resinmaterial from the opening 131c through the supplementary passage 132cinto the wider portion 132a will be fully understood with reference toFIGS. 11 and 12.

The machine of this embodiment is so designed as to keep the resinextrusion output in the whole die device constant, even if the crosssection of the weather strip is modified. The relief orifice 132d isprovided for this purpose. When the movable die 132 is in its upperposition as shown in FIG. 10, the leg portion 5 becomes long and,therefore the cross sectional of the weather strip is large. At thistime, the overlap area between the orifice 131a of the fixed die 131 andthe relief orifice 132d of the movable die 132 is relatively small, andtherefore a relatively small amount of resin 4D is extruded through therelief orifice 132d (Flow of the resin relieved into the relief orifice132d will be fully understood with reference to FIG. 13).

On the contrary, the movable die 132 in FIG. 15 is in its lowerposition, i.e. in the process of molding the upper portion of theweather strip as shown in FIG. 6. In this case, no groove 8 is formed,and the amount of resin relieved through the relief orifice isincreased. It is apparent that there occurs no interference between thewindshield glass 3 and the movable die 132.

In this embodiment, the sum of the cross sectional area of the weatherstrip and the cross sectional area of the resin relieved through therelief orifice 132d is always kept constant. Therefore, even if thepositional relationship between the fixed die and the movable die ischanged, the extrusion pressure or the like is kept constant, assuringextrusion molding of the weather strip under a uniform condition at alltimes.

In this case, movement of the movable die 132 is controlled so as to besynchronized with positional movement between the windshield glass 3 andthe die device 13 which will be described later. Specifically, a driveunit for the movable die 132 is driven under control based upon thepositional data of the windshield glass 3, which assures exact moldingof the weather strip, with no misregistration, having predeterminedcross sectional configurations corresponding to the respective parts ofthe windshield glass 3. Particularly at the corners, the corner portions4B can be formed at high precision.

In this embodiment, the glass holding device 60 changes its positionrelative to the die device 13 in accordance with the data which has beentaught. Thus, the weather strip 4 extruded along the edge of thewindshield glass 3 can have a predetermined contour. Specifically, evenif there is any fluctuation in external dimension of the windshieldglass 3, the external dimension of the windshield glass/weather stripassembly 2 can be of the same dimension at all times. This allows smoothmounting on the assembly 2 to the body panel 1 and rather loweredprecision requirement for the glass 3.

As shown in FIG. 5, the glass holding device 60 disposed laterally ofthe die assembly 11 is assembled to a transfer device 24. The transferdevice 24 includes a base 25 fixed on a floor and a slide table 26slidingly movable along a pair of rails 27 provided on the base 25. Theslide table 26 is moved forwardly or rearwardly by forward or reverserotation of a feed screw 29 driven by a slide motor 28 and threadedlyengaged in a nut provided on the under surface of the slide table 26. Asupport member 31 is mounted on the slide table 26 and has a top plateto which is pivotally mounted a first pivot arm 36 which can be liftedor lowered by forward or reverse rotation of a lifting screw driven by alifting motor not shown. The first pivot arm 36 can be pivotally drivenby a first pivot motor 37.

A second pivot arm 41 is pivotally attached in the vicinity of theproximal end thereof to the upper surface of the first pivot arm 36 inthe vicinity of the distal end thereof through a sun and planet gearmechanism not shown. A rotary member 48 supports the glass holdingdevice 60 tiltingly movably in the front-to-back and right-to-leftdirections through a tilting member 57 supported by shafts crossing atright angles to each other and driven by a tilting motor not shown. Theglass holding device 60 is mainly composed of four holding arms 62extending in a cruciform manner and upwardly directed suction cups 63attached to the respective distal ends of the holding arms 62. Each ofthe suction cups 63 is connected to a negative pressure generator notshown. When the windshield glass 3 is placed in a registered manner onthe suction cups 63, negative pressure is introduced in the suction cups63 to suck and hold the windshield glass 3.

The glass introducing device 64 is disposed laterally of the transferdevice 24 and adapted to introduce the windshield glass 3 to the glassholding device 60 mounted on the transfer device 24.

The glass introducing device 64 includes a base plate 65 fixed on thefloor, a support member 66 mounted on the base plate 65, and a pivotmember 67 pivotally movably attached to the upper surface of the supportmember 66 through a sun and planet gear mechanism not shown. The pivotmember 67 is guided by a predetermined number of guide rollersjournalled by the support member 66 so as to be pivotally movable aroundthe sun gear.

The pivot member 67 supports a long longitudinal feed arm 74 and a shortlifting arm 75 which are disposed at a predetermined distance apart fromeach other and pivotally movable around respective drive shaft 76, 77. Afollow-up arm 78 is pivotally attached at the proximal end thereof by apin 79 to the distal end of the lifting arm 75. Further, a boom 80 ispivotally mounted on respective distal ends of the longitudinal feed arm74 and the follow-up arm 78 by pins 81, 82, respectively. When the driveshaft 76 of the longitudinal feed arm 74 is pivotally moved by alongitudinal feed motor 83, the boom 80 is longitudinally movedforwardly and rearwardly, and when the drive shaft 77 of the lifting arm75 is pivotally moved by lifting motor 84, the boom 80 is tilted in thevertical direction around a pin 81.

A panel suction unit 86 for releasably sucking the windshield glass 3includes a unit body 87 attached to a mounting piece 85 fixedly securedto the distal end of the boom 80 and is tiltingly movable around adriving shaft which is driven by a tilting motor 89. A rotating shaftdriven by a rotating motor 91 extends downwardly from the lower surfaceof the unit body 87, and four support arms 93 arranged in a cruciformmanner are attached to the lower end of the rotating shaft. A suctioncup 94 for releasably sucking the windshield glass 3 is attached to thelower surface of the distal end of each of the support arms 93.

Adjacent to the panel introducing device 64 is disposed the glassejection device 95 for taking the windshield glass/weather stripassembly having the weather strip 4 molded on the peripheral edge of thewindshield glass 3 out of the glass holding device 60. The panelejection device 95 is constructed in the same manner as the glassintroducing device 64, and main members and parts are givencorresponding reference numbers and any more description will beomitted.

Adjacent to the glass introducing device 64 is also disposed the glasssupply shelf device 96 which comprise a pallet base 97 movably disposedon the floor and a pair of right and left support frames 100 projectingfrom the upper surface of the pallet base 97 in a rearwardly tiltingmanner. A plurality pairs of glass receiving arms 101 are attached tothe front surfaces of the support frames 100 in vertical arrays and eachpivotally movable between a horizontal position and a vertical position.Each pair of the glass receiving arms 101 are actuated by an actuatornot shown between a glass receiving position, i.e. horizontal positionand a waiting position, i.e. vertical position. Each pair of the glassreceiving arms 101 from the lowermost one to the uppermost one is usedto support a windshield glass 3 thereon so as to keep the windshieldglasses 3 in layers.

The glass delivery shelf device 103 is used to keep in layers thewindshield glass/weather strip assemblies 2 ejected from the glassholding device 60 by the glass ejection device 95, and it is constructedin the same manner as the glass supply shelf device 96, and main membersand parts are given corresponding reference numbers, and any moredescription will be omitted.

Now, the description will be related to the operation of themanufacturing machine and the manufacturing method in accordance withthe present invention.

(PRETREATMENT PROCESS)

The windshield glass 3 is preliminarily primer-treated at the endsurface and front and rear surfaces in the peripheral edge, and then aresin adhesive is applied onto the primer-treated portions. As describedabove, the pretreated windshield glasses 3 are placed in layers onrespective pairs of glass receiving arms 101 the glass supply shelfdevice 96. Then, the glass supply shelf device 96 is moved to a glasssupply position.

(GLASS INTRODUCING PROCESS)

When the glass supply shelf device 96 is moved to the glass supplyposition, the glass introducing device 64 is activated. When the pivotmember 67 is pivotally moved to direct the boom 80 toward the glasssupply shelf device 96, the boom 80 is advanced toward the windshieldglass 3 in the uppermost layer in the glass supply shelf device 96 andtilted downwardly. At this time, the arms 93 are tilted in a directionopposite to the tilting direction of the boom 80 so as to keep the arms93 in the horizontal position.

The advance and downward tilting of the boom 80 causes each suction cup94 of the glass suction unit 86 to be brought in abutment against theupper surface of the uppermost windshield glass 3, and then, negativepressure is introduced into the suction cups 94 to suck the windshieldglass 3 by the suction cups 94. After the windshield glass 3 is suckedby the suction cups 94, the boom 80 is retracted and upwardly tilted,with the arms 93 of the panel suction unit 86 kept in the horizontalposition. Thus, the windshield glass 3 can be suspended in thehorizontal position.

Then, the boom 80 is pivotally moved toward the glass holding device 60and advanced and downwardly tilted toward the holding arms 62 in theglass holding device 60. At this time, the windshield glass 3 sucked bythe panel suction unit 86 is set to be in a predetermined orientationwith respect to the holding arms 62 in the glass holding device 60, andin this embodiment, the lower edge portion of the periphery of thewindshield glass 3 is directed opposition to the die assembly 11. Then,the windshield glass 3 is placed on the suction cups 63 provided on theholding arms 62 in the glass holding device 60.

When the windshield glass 3 is placed on the suction cups 63 in theglass holding device 60, negative pressure is introduced in the suctioncups 63, while the pressure in the suction cups 94 of the glassintroducing device 64 is released to an atmospheric pressure. Thus, thewindshield glass 3 sucked by the suction cups 63 in the glass holdingdevice 60, completing the introduction of the windshield glass 3 intothe glass holding device 60. Then, the glass introducing device 64 isoperated to receive a next windshield glass 3 in the glass supply shelfdevice 96 and then stopped in the waiting position, as shown in FIG. 5.

(EXTRUSION MOLDING PROCESS)

If the windshield glass 3 sucked by the suction cups 63 in the glassholding device 60 has a curved glass surface, the holding arms 62 in theglass holding device 60 and the windshield glass 3 are tilted by thetilting member 57, so that the lower edge portion of the periphery ofthe windshield glass 3 facing the lateral slot of the die assembly 11can be kept horizontal. Furthermore, the transfer device 24 isvertically moved so as to position the lower edge portion of theperiphery of the windshield glass 3 at a level corresponding to thelateral slot 131b of the die assembly 11.

Then, the slide table 26 is advanced, so that a substantially centralportion of the lower edge portion of the windshield glass 3 is insertedthrough the lateral slot 131b of the die assembly 11 into the orifice131a by a predetermined amount. At this time, the movable die 132 of thedie assembly 11 is set to the position as shown in FIGS. 7 and 10,wherein the area of the orifice is practically largest. As describedabove, when the windshield glass 3 is inserted into the orifice, amolding space corresponding to the cross sectional configuration of theweather strip 4 is defined between the peripheral edge of the windshieldglass 3 and the inner peripheral wall of the orifice. Then, the moldingresin material P is supplied into the molding space thus defined througha feed passage in the die assembly 11 and finally extruded from theextrusion orifice.

As the molding resin material P is extruded from the extrusion orifice,the first and second arms 36 and 41 are pivotally moved in predetermineddirections, respectively, so that the weather strip can be graduallyextruded along the peripheral edge of the windshield glass 3 from thecentral portion of the lower edge toward the first corner at acontrolled speed.

When the first corner of the peripheral edge of the windshield glass 3reaches the extrusion orifice of the die assembly 11, as shown in FIG.18, the rotary member 48 is pivotally moved synchronously with thepivotal movement of the first and second pivot arms 36 and 41, so thatthe die assembly 11 may be relatively moved along the rounded surface ofthe first corner of the windshield glass 3. As the tilting member 57 istilted in correspondence with the curvature of the glass surface at thefirst corner, the first corner of the windshield glass 3 can be kepthorizontal in relation to the extrusion orifice of the die assembly 11.

When the first corner of the windshield glass 3 has passed through theextrusion orifice of the die assembly 11 and the right side edge portionof the windshield glass 3 reaches the extrusion orifice, as shown inFIG. 19, the tilting member 57 is tilted in correspondence with thecurvature of the windshield glass 3 at the right side edge, keeping theright side edge of the windshield glass 3 horizontal in relation to theextrusion orifice, while the right side edge of the windshield glass 3is moved by the first and second pivot arms 36 and 41. Thus, the sideportion 4C is molded on the right side edge of the windshield glass 3.

In the side portion from the upper portion of the right side edge to thesecond corner of the peripheral edge of the windshield glass extrusionis carried out with the movable die 132 the die assembly 11 moving fromthe position in FIG. 7 to the position in FIG. 6, so that the thickextension of the weather strip 4 is gradually reduced in the cornerportion 4B. In this case, the movement of the movable die 132 iscontrolled so as to be synchronous with the relative movement betweenthe windshield glass 3 and the die assembly 11, as described above.Therefore, the weather strip can be exactly molded with nomisregistration so as to have predetermined cross sectionalconfigurations corresponding to the respective parts of the windshieldglass 3, and particularly at the corner and in the vicinity thereof, thethicker extension of the leg portion 5 in the corner portion 4B can begradually reduced with high positional precision.

When extrusion molding of the corner portion 4B is completed and theupper edge portion of the windshield glass 3 reaches the extrusionorifice, extrusion molding of the upper portion 4A is started. In thiscase, the movable die 132 of the die assembly 11 is set at the positionin FIG. 6, with the extrusion orifice having its minimum opening area.

Thus, the peripheral edge of the windshield glass 3 held by the glassholding device 60, which is kept horizontal by the transfer device 24,is inserted and moved in the extrusion orifice of the die assembly 11,the depth of insertion being kept constant at all times. At this time,as the movement of the movable die 132 of the die assembly 11 iscontrolled so as to be synchronous with the relative movement betweenthe windshield glass 3 and the die assembly 11, extrusion molding can becarried out, with the contour of the extrusion orifice being varied incorrespondence with the parts of the glass. Thus, the weather striphaving a partly modified cross section can be precisely molded on theperipheral edge of the windshield glass 3 with no misregistration, andat the same time, it is fixedly adhered to the peripheral edge of thewindshield glass 3 by the adhesive applied thereon. When the full lengthof the weather strip 4 has been extruded along the peripheral edge ofthe windshield glass 3, supply of the molding resin material P to thefeed passage in the die assembly 11 is shut off.

(EJECTION PROCESS)

After supply of the molding material is shut off, the slide table 26 isretracted to its original position. The windshield glass/weather stripassembly 2 is extracted from the lateral slot of the extrusion outlet.Thereafter, the windshield glass/weather strip assembly 2 is conveyed bythe glass ejection device 95 onto a pair of glass receiving arms 101 inthe glass delivery shelf device 103.

According to the present invention, the windshield glass/weather stripassembly 2 as shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 23(B2) and 23(C2) can beformed. The orifices of the fixed die and the movable die may bemodified so as to form the weather strip as shown diagrammatically inFIGS. 24(B2) and 24(C2). The weather strip 4 thus formed has a lip 6cfacing the outboard side thereof. The lip 6c includes a thinner upperportion and a thicker side portion. The thicker side portion is formedwith a groove 8 extending toward the center of the windshield glass 3.

As described above, in accordance with the present invention, asextrusion molding is carried out, the movable die of the die assembly isproperly moved to change the shape of the extrusion outlet and therebyto mold a weather strip having a partly modified cross section, and atthe same time, the weather strip is fixedly adhered to the peripheraledge of the windshield glass, so that the weather strip having a partlymodified cross section can be easily and exactly fitted onto theperipheral edge of the windshield glass with no misregistration, thatis, the upper portion and the side portion of the weather strip can beexactly positioned on the upper edge and the side edge of the windshieldglass, respectively, assuring improvement of the appearance of theweather strip. Furthermore, as the movable die is provided with the wideorifice and the supplementary passage communicating therewith, theweather strip having the groove formed in some parts thereof can beintegrally molded along the peripheral edge of the windshield glass.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of manufacturing an assembly of awindshield glass and a weather strip, the weather strip being extrudedonto the peripheral edge of the windshield glass and having differentcross sections at the upper edge of the windshield glass and at a pairof side edges of the windshield glass, the weather strip including aprojection extending toward the center of the windshield glass at theoutboard side thereof, wherein the projection is in contact with thewindshield glass at the upper edge of the windshield glass, and whereinthe projection is apart from the windshield glass at the pair of sideedges of the windshield glass to define a groove between the windshieldglass and the projection, said method comprising:a step of inserting theperipheral edge of the windshield glass into an orifice of a fixed diehaving a slot through which the peripheral edge of the windshield glassis inserted; a step of moving the windshield glass with respect to saidfixed die along the peripheral edge of the windshield glass from one ofthe side portions through the upper portion to the other of the sideportions of the peripheral edge of the windshield glass; a step ofmoving a movable die with respect to said fixed die, the movable diehaving an orifice comprising a portion aligned with the orifice of thefixed die and a wider portion extending laterally from the portionaligned with the orifice of the fixed die, the movable die having asupplementary passage communicating with the wider portion for supplyingmolding material to the wider portion of the orifice of the movable die,the movement of the movable die being performed between a position wherethe wider portion is in contact with the windshield glass and a positionwhere the wider portion is apart from the windshield glass to vary theheight of the projection to be formed by the wider portion withoutrestriction of the movement of the windshield glass; and a step ofextruding and discharging molding material from the orifice of the fixeddie and from the wider portion of the orifice of the movable die,wherein the steps of moving the windshield glass, moving the movabledie, supplying molding material through the supplementary passage andextruding and discharging molding material are performed simultaneously.2. The method of claim 1 including the steps of continuously supplyingmolding material into the orifice of the fixed die and directing aportion of the supplied molding material through the supplementarypassage in the movable die and into the wider portion of the orifice ofthe movable die,wherein the steps of supplying molding material anddirecting a portion of the molding material are performed simultaneouslywith the steps of moving the windshield glass and moving the movabledie.
 3. The method of claim 2 including the step of maintaining thecontinuous supply of molding material constant as the movable die movesby removing excess molding material through a relief orifice in themovable die.